They need him in order to tread water, which is a classic example of why Super League needs restructuring.

You've got your restructure. The clubs with "not a penny more from me" chairmen Hudgell, Fulton, O'Connor, Hughes, Khan, and Glover will end up with the "If only you'd let us in Superleague we'd spend a fortune" Nahaboo and Abbot and the eight can have their own competition of a grand final for non spending chairmen.

The top club can then win a Grand final without spending anything and the top four can have a successful season by getting promotion to Superleague. Instead of drifting around the bottom of Superleague at the end of the season looking like the losers they are, they will be winners.

The illusion is quite smart. Championship clubs will therefore provide two services to Superleague.

1. The top four CC clubs will provide opposition for the SL clubs to beat and make them look good.

He has done a great job at Rovers. Okay he is having some doubts and is looking for some support, what is wrong with that?I think when we came into S.L we should have built the team with young British players instead of thinking Aussies were the answer.He has made some mistakes, but if you havent made mistakes you havent done anything.Keep in there Neil.

With respect, the Aussies (Vella, Galea, Newton & Dobson in particular) have been Rovers' best performers since coming back into SL. You get nothing entering that league with purely British players, of which there are barely enough pedigree ones to pad out the elite sides, let alone provide a trickle down effect to sides of Rovers' standing. Take those 4 players out of Rovers post-2006 and that side was never anywhere near the play-offs.

Of course I like Hudgell and what he has done for that side (still technically my team, although my allegiance has shifted to NRL and a campaign for a merged Hull side) but I'm increasingly baffled by his outspoken bluster. Leaving that aside, one very pertinent point he made recently was about how difficult it is to attract investment into HKR and how - in his words - he has been forced to concentrate his efforts on "local businesses with an affinity for Hull KR". That's a staggering statement when you analyse it. The search is not just limited to wealthy businessmen in an increasingly cash-poor town with very few of them to begin with but roughly HALF of those. It's an alarming state of affairs and really why I no longer feel it's worthwhile for any committed RL fans to support such sides as they are simply financial black holes (see also: Widnes, Wakey, Cas etc.) The elite game needs to be brave and think bigger than this. A merged Hull side with Hudgell AND Pearson's cash would be a real force and could furthermore attract considerable out-of-town investment and create a genuine and sustainable RL legacy within the city.

Hudgell and his ilk (Davy, O'Connor, Hughes etc.) are good committed RL servants but are just King Canutes fighting the tide and they know it. Who follows them is almost certainly a series of less cash-rich backers and a slow and steady decline into bankruptcy. Super League is just wasting time and gambling with its own life here.